Shammond Williams

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Shammond Williams bigraphy, stories - American basketball player

Shammond Williams : biography

05 April 1975 –

Shammond Omar Williams (born April 5, 1975, in The Bronx, New York City) is a naturalized Georgian former professional basketball player who grew up in the United States (represented the Republic of Georgia internationally). The 6’1" (1.85 m) combination point guard/shooting guard was known for his long-range shooting accuracy. Over the years, he played on various teams, ranging from the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA to FC Barcelona.

Personal

He is a cousin of Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and Louis McCullough, who has played professional basketball overseas. He is a member of the Psi Delta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi.

Professional career

Williams was selected in the second round, 34th overall, of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. While he never played for the Bulls, he did play for the Atlanta Hawks, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Hornets, and Orlando Magic.

He played internationally for Unics Kazan of Russia (where he obtained Georgian citizenship), 29 July 2004 and for Winterthur FC Barcelona of the Spanish Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB). He has played for the Georgia national team and was the Most Valuable Player of the 2005 EuroChallenge All-Star Game.

Williams signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on July 12, 2006. After spending one season with the Lakers, Williams returned to Europe and signed with Pamesa Velencia for three seasons. Before the start of the 2009-2010 ACB regular season, Pamesa Valencia released Williams, whereupon he trained on his own in the United States. On November 9, 2009, Williams returned to Spain and signed with Unicaja Málaga.

In January 2011 he signed with Proteas EKA AEL in Cyprus. After finishing the season in Cyprus he signed with Sutor Basket Montegranaro in Italy.

Collegiate career

After attending Fork Union Military Academy, Williams played college basketball at North Carolina under Dean Smith and later, Bill Guthridge. During the 1997-1998 season, he was a member of new coach Bill Guthridge’s successful "Six Starters" rotation with Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja and Makhtar N’Diaye. That season (his final college season), he averaged 16.7 points and 4.2 assists per game to go along with career averages of 10.7 points and 3.0 assists per game.

When Williams graduated from North Carolina, he held the following school records:

  • Most Career Three Point Field Goals Made: 233
  • Most Season Three Point Field Goals Made: 95
  • Most Three Point Field Goals Made in a Game: 8 (tie)
  • Highest Career Free Throw Percentage: .849
  • Highest Season Free Throw Percentage .911

Williams also became a pioneer of the internet during his collegiate career. In 1995, Shammond Williams became the very first collegiate athlete to have a website dedicated to him on the World Wide Web. The website was developed by , and an archive of is still available for viewing.